Webb Surprised by Hangtown Podium

Motoonline  Competition Post: Troy Guenther

First podium of the Pro Motocross season at Hangtown's second round.

Image: Octopi Media.

A podium result at Hangtown came earlier than Cooper Webb had anticipated as he continues to build in the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship.

Webb skipped the outdoors altogether last season and entered Fox Raceway’s opener this year off the back of his 450SX title challenge being cut short with a concussion sustained at Nashville.

The Red Bull KTM rider notched 4-5 results in Pala for fifth overall, before posting a calculated ride to P4 in the opening moto at Hangtown. Moto two on Saturday saw Webb assume second place early in the moto and later capitalized on a mistake from teammate Aaron Plessinger to secure the runner-up. A 4-2 scorecard saw him third overall on the day.

“Yeah, I’m stoked man,” said Webb. “That second moto was great for me, I got a good start and ran up front. It was definitely a difficult track to pass on, it helped me though to kind of latch on and get to know the pace and yeah, just get my outdoor legs a little bit again.

“I struggled in the first moto, but we made a bike change that was better for the second one. It was just good to be back battling, the first one I was a distant fourth, just kind of riding around by myself.

“It was good to get a good start and be in the mix, be in the fight and get a podium. I am stoked man, I didn’t expect it to come this early by any means and I still feel like I have a long ways to go, so I am really happy with the performance today.”

Two rounds into the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship and Webb is third in the 450MX standings, 26 points from red plate-holder Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC).